We had this discussion in January, Bigun. I agree with Ocean regarding Vietnam. This is how I replied then and I believe my closing question is the take-away lesson from history:
Indonesia is a republic. Malaysia is a federal constitutional monarchy. Cambodia is a unitary state with a constitutional monarchy and a parliamentary system. The Republic of Philippines has a democratic government. Of the southeast Asian countries, only Laos remains as one of the world's five Socialist states (the others being China, Cuba, Vietnam, and North Korea).
And from what I have been able to determine Laos is not an oppressive state, it's constitution contains most key safeguards for human rights – and it has a thriving tourism industry. However, Amnesty International has raised concerns about human rights violations in Laos.
We lost over 58,000 troops in Vietnam. To what end? Was it worth it?